This spooky weekend I am finally playing The Blood of Dawnwalker on PS5. What. A. Game. I have been pleasantly surprised by what this game offers, and its unique experience with time management.

I like how personal the entire narrative feels. It manages to accomplish what other open world games fail to do: provide a sense of urgency. More often than not, there are games set in a sprawling world that threatens the end of existence but allows you to explore and take your time, undercutting the story. Dawnwalker doesn’t skimp on this at all.

It’s been a long while since I’ve played an RPG that had me genuinely questioning my actions. With its unique time mechanic, I’m thinking of what quests — main and side — I should prioritize. You would think this would be a hindrance, and restrictive, but it actually enhances the experience because it respects your time.

The writing is top-notch because each quest feels important, thus the feeling of missing content due to time doesn’t seem like a loss. You never feel like you’re making the wrong choice in what to focus on.

Moreover, I find all of the characters to be really intriguing. I’m invested in their stories and curious to see how my decisions impact them. There have been a few reactions that have caught me off guard. Even minor, typical open world tropes such as “clear out this encampment” make a meaningful difference. Once again, the world feels alive and significant because I’m making decisions that can alter the outcome in drastic ways, to people whom are struggling to make a living, but also living in constant fear.

The combat is also really fun to me. It’s not for everyone, but once you get a grasp at the parrying and the many abilities at your disposal, it becomes an intense battle of nutrition. That’s not to say it’s not without its jank. You can get stuck on corners. And once you are in a confined area you are committed. The lock on can also be finicky at times, but it also adds to the adrenaline.

Overall, I’m really impressed by this game. It obviously has The Witcher DNA in terms of graphics, combat, and world design, but that’s not a bad thing, is it?

I’m a broken record at this point because I’m still playing Fire Emblem Fortune’s Weave. I can’t get enough of this game. Part 3 is incredibly difficult, and becomes a classic Fire Emblem game but in a different formality—roaming the map strategically, forming multiple groups of armies, trying to complete your objectives whilst protecting your base and leveling up your character. It’s daunting and can be absolutely punishing (in a way that I like).

I have a handful of Divine classes unlocked and have most of the map clear and rebuilt. There are some characters I take into battle with me that are so well balanced that I can beat an entire map with just two characters because of how they avoid attacks and provide follow-up movements. I know this because I was fighting a main mission battle, lost 10 people very early on, and managed to survive with two people.

I’m getting much closer to the end of the game, but I have a feeling I’ll be spending a lot more time with it. I recently bought the expansion, so I’m stoked for when they finally release more story paths to follow. Until then, I’m going to keep plugging away. This is easily my GoTY.

Glad this turned out well. I’ll definitely be checking it out when it releases.

This is shaping up to be one of the best remake’s ever made, in my opinion. Similar to RE4, it appears to capture the same essence of the original whilst also adding additional content that feels natural and organic, whether that’s by modern controls and/or expanding the scope of Hyrule. I can’t wait to play this.

The game is fantastic, albeit not perfect. I, for one, am loving my time with the game.

I am really curious about NL’s review. I think the game is fantastic, and to me feels like a Castlevania game. However, if you go to Twitter/X it is the worst game to ever be made. I don’t listen to those people, but it’s hard to ignore negative online discourse for anything these days.

After 110-hours I have finally reached Part 3 in Cai’s path in Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave. I can’t get enough of this game—it’s truly an astounding achievement. And with the recent news of DLC, and an additional four character routes, I can’t wait to play even more. This might be one of the rare games where I can play endlessly without getting tired of it.

I have also started RE4 Remake on the Switch 2. It plays flawlessly in handheld, and is the perfect game to play during spooky season.

Glad to see and hear that for the most part the games run great. I’m excited to play them—I picked up RE2R and RE4R digitally and can’t wait for them to release tomorrow. Having these games on the go, and not a cloud version, is perfect. 🤞 for Dead Space to eventually come.

Glad to see it is a great port. I’ll definitely be picking this up and Castlevania this week — just in time for spooky season.

@somnambulance I feel the exact same way as you do. It truly is a remarkable game, especially when you consider the depth, and the different stories from each Flame Lord that ends up merging into one cohesive story is an impressive feat.

I’m still playing Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave on hard/classic mode. I just reached Part 2 in Cai’s path after 65-hours. My renown is completely maxed out, I’ve completed every side quest and Paralogue missions, unlocked a handful of specialty classes for my characters, and unfortunately lost some people I cared about. This game is an all-timer for me, and I won’t hesitate to call it a masterpiece.

I was 30 hours deep in Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave when I decided to start completely over from scratch. I wasn’t getting the most out of my experience by juggling each of the four characters by chapters—instead, I am now playing the game with one character only.

I am currently playing on hard classic mode, and decided to go with Cai. I am in his 7th chapter. It’s been amazing so far. The story is ramping up, I’ve got a solid understanding of the mechanics that are being drip fed, and I have developed a good routine during free time.

Additionally, skirmishes and battles are starting to get time consuming in a positive way. I’m actively thinking about my decisions. There might be times where I spend 30-45 minutes in a singular battle because I don’t want anyone to die, and I have to strategically move my units in the correct position. I love the grind.

I’m also playing the campaign for Gears of War E-Day. I’ve completed Act 1 and it was phenomenal. Honestly, it’s one of the best openings I’ve played in a game before. It felt like a mix between Resident Evil and The Last of Us, and had the perfect balance between horror and action.

This looks cool - I’ll definitely check it out.

It’s all about Control: Resonant this weekend for me!

I’m thirty hours in, but I think I’m going to start completely over. The way I’ve been playing is switching to a new character at the start of the heroic games, and I’m ultimately misremembering the plethora of characters. I think I’m going to start over and focus on one route at a time instead of juggling 4. Aside from that, the game is fantastic — a 9/10, but it could be higher if I can focus on one arc.

I think it has a possibility of being worth pursuing, but I think it would be difficult to make Ganondorf a main protagonist when we have a huge history of him being a jerk. I don’t know how a developer could make him be a character people feel compelled to play — mechanically, narratively, and motivationally.

Ohhh, this is awesome news. The first game rules. The second didn’t really do much for me, but it was still solid. I’ll definitely be picking this up.

I love this game. I got all achievements on Xbox and might double dip. It’s the only LEGO game that held my attention the entire time.

I beat Cronos: The New Dawn and I thought it was excellent. I took my time, too, clocking in approximately 30-hours to complete on Xbox Series X. I managed to unlock most achievements during my first run—finding all cats, comic books, and travel logs. I am now a third of the way through on my NG+ Hard mode attempt to mop up the remaining achievements for a 100% completion.

I’m now starting Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave. I’ve wrapped up the prologue and decided to start as Dietrich. I’m in Part 1; chapter 4, and his story has been great.

There are two issues I have with the game. First is the character models—some of them are hideous and really oddly designed, such as Fabio’s eyes and Baozi’s smile. The second is the lip syncing with the dialogue. It doesn’t match what the characters are saying.

Aside from that, in my opinion, Fortune’s Weave is already a better game than Engage—a game that left me immensely disappointed. Fortunately, no pun intended, this new entry could be on the same level as Awakening and Three Houses.

Interesting. I’m curious to see how this runs. If it performs well I’ll be triple dipping. It’s easily in my top five games of this generation, and personally an all-timer.

I managed to get in a few hours ago. I’m already level 13, and it’s been awesome. It runs really smooth.

I will be buying this ASAP.

I have completed Onimusha: Way of the Sword on Xbox Series X. I got every achievement you can get on a single run — max upgraded all equipment, abilities, found every weapon, and did every side quest. It took me approximately 35-hours.

My opinion is mixed. Maybe it’s because my play style forces me to do everything I possibly can in my first playthrough, and then do NG+ after if I’m not feeling burned out. With that said, Onimusha WotS is a perfect 12-hour game, but a bad 35-hour game. I think this game will benefit from a NG+ so you can trim the fat.

I’ll probably do a NG+ run sometime down the line. I wouldn’t mind mopping up the achievements. I’m going to set it to the side for now and since it’s getting closer to spooky season, I have finally decided to boot up Cronos The New Dawn. It’s fantastic so far.

Now this was one heck of a trailer! Next year is looking good!

Finally! And in perfect timing for spooky season.

I completed Mortal Shell 2 and I’m halfway through NG+ but putting that on pause for the moment. I am now playing Onimusha: Way of the Sword and it’s awesome. The combat is great, the story is compelling, Musashi is a genuinely funny character with emotional depth, and the game is pure fun reminiscent of the early 2000s. I’ve defeated two of the bosses so far and I can’t wait to play more when I get the free time. Capcom once again delivers another banger.

@Gavintendo So how does a game key card actually affect the game itself? I’m not talking about “renting” or whatever, but the actual game? Does it affect frame rate? Does it make the gameplay bad? How is it a 1/10?

I’m wrapping up my playthrough of Mortal Shell 2 on Xbox Series X. I’m three achievements away from 100%’ing the game, but I’ll wrap those up during a NG+ later down the road when there aren’t so many good games out. It’s been a fantastic experience, and it’s definitely worth the money.

I’m playing Mortal Shell 2 on Xbox. The first couple of hours can be absolutely brutal, especially if you go to the more difficult areas unintentionally as I did. However, once you can get past that initial hump, the game is awesome. It’s up there with Lies of P for me.

Having this game on handheld is one of the main reasons I’m buying this (for the third time). It’s such an all-timer, and I can’t wait to play it for another hundred plus hours — it’s looking great on Switch 2. With that said, this will be such a demanding game; the battery life via handheld is going to be very small.

I’ll be there day one and ready to go. This is the perfect game to play on handheld. I’ve been really tempted to buy an Xbox Rog Ally X but haven’t been able to mentally pull the trigger on an $800.00+ product.

@Corvus96 Although worded kind of sarcastically, he does make a good point. This is a massive game that I don’t think can fit on a card. I don’t think he’s defending a code in a box — only stating the obvious.

I’m pretty hooked on Final Fantasy XIV on the Switch 2 at the moment. I’m not that far, but have completed numerous side quests and dungeons. I’m currently a level 22 archer and a level 20 lancer.

I’m also slowly going through Halo Campaign Evolved on the Xbox Series X. It’s been fun so far, and a really huge nostalgia boost.

I’ve been playing this nonstop for the past couple of days and I’m hooked. It’s so good.

I might pick this up even though I’ve beaten it multiple times and got the platinum trophy for it on PS5.

I’m finally playing games again, but still not as much as I used to. I’ve taken a massive step back because it was consuming too much of my life, free time, and mind. That said, I did buy Final Fantasy XIV for Switch 2. It’s my first MMO since RuneScape in the 90s (no joke), so I’m overwhelmed, but I like it so far. It’s even better than I can play this type of game on handheld - one of the main reasons why I purchased it to begin with.

Oh, September .. what a shocker.

This is in my top five games of this generation. I absolutely loved it. I will definitely buy this on Switch 2.

Halo: Campaign Evolved. I’m currently doing the prequel missions and they are great.

I haven’t played a single video game for close to two months now, which is unheard of from me. This, however, looks awesome and I may check it out.

This is three weeks now that I haven’t played a single game, and by far the longest break. I did buy Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced so I might play that, but eh. I think I’m going to go to the comic store today and find some back issues from series I’ve been missing.

I’ve still yet to play anything. This is the longest I’ve gone without playing something and I’m surprisingly not missing it. At the moment I’m deeply consumed by my hobbies of collecting comic books and writing. Maybe when Assassin’s Creed Black Flag releases I will jump back into the gaming world, but we will see.

Metroid Dread is probably my favorite 2D Metroid, and I would love more of that. Either way, I’m looking forward to whatever is coming, as long as it’s not a cart racer or pinball.

This weekend I am not playing much. In fact, I’m getting back into my other hobbies I’ve neglected: writing and comic books, and sometimes a mixture of both together. The majority of the time my main source of entertainment is gaming, but it’s interesting how time consuming it really is. It becomes quite easy to lose hours on your day to the medium and ignore other interests.

With that said, what I have been playing periodically is Devil May Cry 5 on the Nintendo Switch 2. I would say it’s my first time, but that’s not entirely accurate. I played the game on its original release but I didn’t like it. Playing as Nero in the beginning felt clunky due to his missing arm. Because of that, I stopped within an hour and never looked back.

And then it releases on the Switch 2, and I’m a big handheld gamer — that’s how I prefer to play it if I can — so I decided to give it another shot. I’m now a few hours in, and though I still find it cumbersome, particularly with its lock-on mechanics, I have grown to enjoy it more than I remembered.

That’s about it for me. I’m not sure how long this re-establishment of old hobbies will last, but I’m immersed in it, and actually feel happy for a change.

DD2 is arguably in my top five games of all time. This expansion looks great, and the additional skill slots are a huge plus. I’m looking forward to getting lost back in this world again.

I might pick this up when it’s on sale. It sounds great, and whilst it has replayability, the game still seems way too short with only a few variations to mix things up.

It’s sold relatively well all things considered. I bought my digital copy and am enjoying it quite a bit.

Seeing as I only play my Switch 1 & 2 handheld only unless it’s a new mainline Zelda game, it sounds like it performs pretty well, albeit some caveats. I’m looking forward to checking this one out when it releases.

This will be a day one purchase if true which I suspect it is considering the other Diablo games on the Switch. Hopefully, we will get a proper announcement soon.

Last Sunday I got the platinum for 007 First Light. While I [patiently] waited for The Adventures of Elliot to release, I was hankering for an RPG to play. I decided to replay The Witcher 3 for the fifth time, this instance being on Nintendo Switch 2.

I want to apologize to Elliot — you’re going to have to wait much longer to be played. I’m once again absorbed into this brutal, yet gorgeous Continent. Being able to take this adventure on the go is a godsend, and feels tailor made for that type of experience.

It’s also much better than I remembered; it ages like fine wine. There isn’t much more that can be said about this game that hasn’t been said before over the last 13 years. The writing is top notch, the characters are compelling, the main and side missions are some of the most in-depth, multilayered quests I’ve ever experienced, and exploration is consistently rewarding.

In short, this game is a bonafide masterpiece in every facet. Thirteen years later it still stands above most games today. Before Red Dead Redemption 2 and Elden Ring there was The Witcher 3. And thank God for that.